Happy New Year

Image via Wikipedia

Happy New Year to all of You. Kung Hei Fat Choi !!! The first day of the lunar year is the beginning of the new year. As the world dawned on to the after hours of the last day of the year , and stepped onto the eve of the year of the pig, there was a cause of celebration amongst the Chinese community . Be it the Chinese in mainland , in Hong Kong or the ethnic community spread around parts of the world from the far east to the far west. All joined hands and were one to the lion dance, the dragon dance and the roasting of the pig- the suckling pig.

It is quite incredible that Koreans, Vietnamese, Bhutanese, Nepalese, Singaporeans all celebrate chinese new year, and have public holidays. Though the global village has hundreds of caste, creed and communities, and we more often get overwhelmed by the diversity of sorts, it is good to see few distinct periods of year when large mass of people unite to celebrate a festival that runs through them as a common chord. The Christians and the non-christians celebrate Christmas, the muslims from all over gather in the Eid. And I cant draw a similar parallel to Chinese New Year but CNY comes a close third.

Lets share some fast facts on the CNY :

1. Chinese New Year is also the time when the largest human migration takes place when overseas Chinese all around the world return home on the eve of Chinese New Year to have reunion dinners with their families.

2. Chinese culture influences 8-10 countries and statutory public holidays follow here. Technically CNY is an Asia bound event which covers most of Asia barring the Indian sub-continent behind.

3. The Chinese New Year Parade at San Francisco is one of the most 'Chinesy' 'Elaborate' parade outside Asia.

(In 1849, with the discovery of gold and the ensuing California Gold Rush, over 50,000 people had come to San Francisco to seek their fortune or just a better way of life. Among those were many Chinese, who had come to work in the gold mines and on the railroad. By the 1860’s, the Chinese were eager to share their culture with those who were unfamiliar with it. They chose to showcase their culture by using a favorite American tradition - the Parade. Nothing like it had ever been done in their native China. They invited a variety of other groups from the city to participate, and they marched down what today are Grant Avenue and Kearny Street carrying colorful flags, banners, lanterns, and drums and firecrackers to drive away evil spirits.)

4. 2007 happens to be a year of the golden pig which comes once in 60 Years. An Auspicious year , this year is supposed to bring good luck. A baby boom is happening in China with more people going the 'family' way.

5. The CNY festivities is a source of ' alternate income stream'. New Year Gatherings at office, home, apartments are celebrated with handing of the 'red envelope'. It is a 'lai-see' that is given to the seniors by juniors. You get to hear a lot of 'hellos' and 'his' by your regular handyman and others as they all are waiting for their share of 'lai-see'.

I had a pretty myopic view of the Chinese Culture and I always felt the fabric of Chinese Culture is all about the bizarre variety of food that one eats and the commerce and the communist parties. The culture and traditions always seemed too exclusive and perhaps inaccessible for the foreigners. When I stood in a CNY parade at HK to struggled to find a place in the jostling crowd, standing on my toes,I realized that I was one amongst the many foreigners , who had embraced the culture and were enjoying the lions and the dragons. I was tad bored by the loud music, but the finery and the costumes of the Chinese performers left me amazed.

Did you know that the Chinese history is one of the richest in the world, and the beginning of the year was legendary across many dynasties.

Did you know that the last day of the fifteen days of the CNY is the Lantern Festival

Did you know that companies like Disney have embraced the local Lantern Festival and have had lamps hung in their park.

Well all this data mining , was more to get me on speed with the reason, why I had so many holidays . Look forward to more of such Chinese Celebrations. I sign off. Au Revoir. Shey Shey